Big Brain Academy Playtest

The Wii has remained a weekly sellout in Japan largely due to two games, Wii Sports and Wii Play. Both crossed the million mark long ago and are easily the biggest Wii titles thus far in Nintendo's home territory, with continued weekly placement in the top 10 while other Wii titles appear one week then are gone forever the next.

It appears that, at long last, those two titles won't be alone. Nintendo's Touch Generations lineup officially hit consoles this past week with the Japanese release of Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (in Japanese, Wii de Yawaraka Atamajuku). It sold millions on the DS, and if there's a god and his name is Iwata, it will do the same on the Wii.

At a glance, there isn't really isn't too much different between the Wii version of Big Brain Academy and its DS counterpart. Much like the DS version with the stylus, the success of the Wii version depends in part on having a pointing device for selecting answers, something the Wiimote is quite capable of, as owners of the system have probably figured out by now.

The Wii version also adds a new category of question where you do things like whack-a-mole and aiming a flashlight at the screen. I haven't noticed any actual motion-based "mini-game" style questions and answers, but Big Brain Academy isn't meant to be a replacement for Wario.

That speaker that comes built in with every Wiimote is also put to use. As you play, you'll hear occasional comments about your performance directly from the speaker. One of the brain tests even uses the speaker directly. The Wiimote rings and vibrates like a phone. Press A, and a customer issues a food order. You'll have to listen closely and remember the order in order to mark it on the order list and clear a mini game.

Big Brain Academy also taps into some of the Wii's non-Wiimote features. The game makes use of your Mii collection. In addition to using one of your Miis as your in-game counterpart, other Miis from your collection appear in the mode selection screen as other students at the Big Brain Academy. Limited WiiConnect24 support is also included. You can set the game to automatically send your records to friends in your friend list. With your data in hand, your friends can compete against your records in the game's battle mode.

And, of course, the biggest difference of all: the Wii version is played on a large television screen rather than the tiny DS screen, making it perfect for party gaming. In addition to the single player brain test and stretch exercises, the game includes multiplayer modes for up to eight players. Only one mode actually has two players facing off one on one in split screen competitive play. The other modes, including a cooperative survival mode, have players trade off the Wiimote when prompted.

The coolest multiplayer mode is called Doki Doki Panel. Up to eight players group together in up to four teams, then take turns selecting panels from a 4x4 board. Each panel corresponds to a game, although you usually don't know in advance what game you'll be getting, or the difficulty. Once all panels are cleared, the team with the best record wins.

Big Brain Academy has the smooth, stress-free presentation that characteristic of just about any game published by Nintendo. Combine this with the addictive single and multiplayer challenges, and Touch Generations' trip to the home has all the makings for a success. Wii Sports and Wii Play should at long last have some company.

via ign